David Bridgwater, 38, was found on the ground beside his still‑running car in Aranui.
Tag Archives: oceania
Local elections 2025: Northland Regional Council election sees major turnover
Peter-Lucas Jones, Tui Shortland and Rick Stolwerk have been ousted from their roles.
Northland measles cases rise to 12 as two new infections confirmed
Both new Northland cases were already in quarantine while infectious.
Local elections 2025: Whakatāne votes for Nándor Tánczos’ ‘nice-to-have’ approach
The former Green MP says voters made a clear choice on council spending and nice-to-haves.
Search for missing Gus Lamont, 4, to resume again in remote SA
Police will resume a search for missing child Gus Lamont in remote South Australia, saying they'll expand the area of the hunt.
The search, involving police and members of the ADF, will start again tomorrow police said, as the child's disappearance remains a mystery.
Gus is believed to have wandered near the house on the property, which is about 40km south of Yunta, about 5pm on on Saturday, September 27.
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Earlier this month the search was called off after no trace of Gus was found after six days, however police did later return to the site, Oak Park Station, on October 4.
They spent hours speaking with family and taking photos of the property.
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From tomorrow, the search will "concentrate on an expanded area outside of the zone already searched extensively following Gus' disappearance," police said.
"There continues to be regular and close engagement with the Lamont family who are continuing to assist with the investigation."
Police said all the evidence so far suggests the boy's disappearance is not suspicious.
His family have said in a statement they are "devastated" and "deeply distressed" by his disappearance.
Electric bus smoking after crashing into New Lynn station
Pictures show the moment an Auckland Transport bus crashed into a station.
Necklace worth $11k, plane seats and Ansett lifejacket up for grabs at airport auction
A designer Bulgari gold diamond necklace worth $11,000 and other pricey jewellery are up for grabs as part of an auction of lost property found at an Australian airport.
Brisbane Airport is putting the lost items – as well as airport memorabilia – up for auction for charity.
The auction features hundreds of items left behind by the 24 million passengers who travelled through the terminals in the past year.
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Despite efforts to reunite owners with their belongings, many items remain unclaimed, the airport said.
Other forgotten items like walking sticks, hundreds of pairs of sunglasses, dozens of phones and numerous pair of headphones are also on offer.
A hefty supply of laptops is also being sold, as well as a printer which appears to have been lost.
Walking frames and children's buggies have also ended up not being claimed.
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Some forgetful fliers also managed to lose pairs of sneakers and other clothes and shoes, fishing rods and surfboards.
A handful of sewing machines have also bizarrely made it to lost property, as well as medical gear like CPAP machines.
Meanwhile, special airport memorabilia including old plane seats, an Ansett lifejacket from the defunct airline and even a black box flight recorder from a plane are also being sold to the highest bidder.
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"It's always surprising and even a little bizarre to see what gets left behind by the 70,000 passengers who pass through Brisbane Airport each day," Peter Doherty from the airport said.
"With Brisbane Airport turning 100 this year, we've also included some special heritage aviation items we think will attract a lot of interest.
"Where else can you pick up a row of airline seats, a black box, cockpit voice recorder or vintage life jackets with Ansett on them?"
The auction is running online via Lloyds.
‘Wall of water’ struck rural NSW town, killing two people
While panicked people stood on roof tops to escape a "wall of water" flooding a rural town, the weather bureau warned the disaster would occur many hours later, an inquest has been told.
An enormous flash flood that smashed Eugowra, in central western NSW, on the morning of November 14, 2022, killed 60-year-old Diane Smith and 85-year-old Ljubisa "Les" Vugec.
An inquest is examining the circumstances of their deaths, along with the lead-up to the disaster, the efficacy of weather warnings and the emergency response.
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Local water catchments were already brimming when "constant and intense" rain fell over the region for six hours the evening before the flood, according to a 2023 NSW government report read to the inquest.
It was, at the time, the wettest November day in NSW since 1900.
Mandagery Creek, which flows through the centre of Eugowra, peaked at 11.02 metres just after 9am on November 14.
The level was more than 10 times its ordinary height and one metre higher than the previous flood record in April 1950.
Counsel assisting Sophie Callan SC on Monday told the inquest that water gauges upstream from Eugowra were not transmitting data in the hours leading up to the flood.
Damage to gauges and telecommunications outages resulted in data gaps of several hours, including between 7am and 10am, Callan said.
"During the peak of the flood … there were no gauges transmitting any information to enable emergency services to predict just how swiftly the water was coming into Eugowra," Ms Callan said during her opening address at Orange courthouse.
Just after 9am, "a wall of water or a wave" struck the village with enough force to knock houses off their stumps and wipe out telecommunications infrastructure, she said.
Several people climbed onto the roof of the two-storey Central Hotel to escape the torrent.
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Around the same time, at 9.07am, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning that the Mandagery Creek "may reach" 10.5 metres that afternoon.
"That was not in accordance with what was happening on the ground at the time," Ms Callan said.
The inquest was told Smith, a life-long Eugowra resident and doctor's receptionist, was seen clinging to a tree in raging waters, while Vugec was last seen in his backyard.
The disaster destroyed or damaged 80 per cent of homes and forced the evacuation of 700 Eugowra residents.
Before the inquest opening, Cabonne Shire mayor Kevin Beatty said the loss of Smith and Vugec continued to hang heavily over the small town.
"It's massive. To lose them under those circumstances is horrific," Mr Beatty told AAP.
"They went missing for a while in the floodwaters – that's indescribable."
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Beatty said the inquest was likely to re-open painful emotional wounds, but hoped it would provide answers for those seeking them.
"They're going OK, but it's been slow," he said.
"I don't want to use the word resilient. They're tough."
The inquest is set down for five days before Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil.
Serial fraudster Aaron Coupe appeals against his sentence, citing mental health problems and ‘crushing’ punishment
Con artist now says he has multiple serious mental health issues.
Silly Hat Party, vampire and clown contenders among those to lose out in NZ local elections
Despite their eccentric personas, these hopefuls had limited success this weekend.